Our education system
Grades don’t define who you are. It was Albert Einstein who said that “ If you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree it will believe it’s stupid for its whole life “. Each Student learns differently. Some learn through stories. Some learn through doing. Some learn by painting. Some learn early and some take their time.
Our modern education system is flawed and instead of making students passionate about learning it makes their self – worth tied with a letter grade. A student is so much more than just a number. We all learn differently and have our strengths and weaknesses.
Albert Einstein had lived a life of contrast. First being ridiculed for slow learner, he went to become one of the greatest scientist of all times.
He truly believed what he said that “Education is what remains after one has forgotten what one has learned in school.”
We have many real life examples of world’s leaders and achievers to understand what our grades really mean?
Bill Gates
He was known as Harvard’s most successful dropout. Gates dropped out of Harvard after only two years and became one of the wealthiest men in the world after founding Microsoft.
Charlie Chaplin
one of the world’s greatest comedians, was very poor and could not afford to go to school. In addition he had very difficult circumstances at home, life was very difficult for him but despite all the trials he opened the way of success in his life on the basis of his other skills.
Steve Jobs
Jobs dropped out of Reed College after just 6 months due to financial difficulties. Although never finishing college, Jobs went on to found Apple, Pixar, and NeXT Computer.
Mahatma Gandhi
If you assumed that Mahatma Gandhi was one of the brightest students in the class or one of the outstanding students’ leader in his youth, then you may be surprised that he was not only a mediocre student, he was very quiet and shy teenager. But did that stop him from becoming India’s , “Father of Nation”?
So the question arises what our grades really mean?
Grades are a kind of reward we get during our learning in school.
This is not the real destination of education. The real purpose of education is to nurture human soul and awaken him with its three important tools of truth, beauty and goodness.
and all these famous people didn’t focus on the shallow vision of education they went deep with its real purpose and did the great things in life
It is saying that you can’t make a good man out of a boy simply cramming his head full of algebra, grammar rules and history facts!!!
There is a difference when we educate ourselves for grades and when we educate ourselves for learnings. A person cannot live his or her entire life with only knowing information or facts learned from school or college. A person also needs talent, skills, and real world experience to live.
In recent surveys it has been proved that one’s Emotional Quotient, Intellectual Quotient, spiritual quotient, creative Quotient are equally important as Intelligence quotient for overall development of a human being.
Schooling is about learning knowledge, skills and competences for professional qualifications to experiment the objective reality. Education is about experiencing life in developing Wisdom…if we focus on getting grades then we are only soaking our feet in the vast ocean of education. can help us to master critical thinking and knowledge if we shift our focus on the Joy of learnings and every new learning becomes our achievement then education helps us experiencing the subjectivity of our own existence and its interactions to ourselves, to other subjects and to the Universe.
This 21st century is the time where we need to develop Holistic approach to education. The goal of holistic education is to cultivate a developing child’s physical, emotional, moral, psychological, and spiritual attributes. And everything can’t be measure through Grades only.
The students who focus on grades, can surely be the face of the school
But the students who focus on true learnings can be the face of world and humanity.
So focus on your holistic learning and holistic growth, don’t get dishearten if you don’t get the expected results. Every failure gives us so many new learnings.
Keep on exploring!!
Keep on learning!!
Keep on unleashing your hidden potential!!!